The Best of Both Phone, and TabletMarch 9, 2006 12:30 AM PST
Reality check for the much-hyped Origami PC
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Microsoft whispers Origami details
March 2, 2006 -
Microsoft dreams up low-cost minitablet
April 25, 2005
But as devices begin to come out a year later, reality still trails Microsoft's ambitions. The first generation of devices, being announced Thursday and already featured on Microsoft's site, are bigger, pricier and more power hungry than the software maker had hoped.
Microsoft acknowledges that instead of a mass-market hit riding a wave of prelaunch hype, these devices are likely to appeal only to the most hard-core gadget fans.
"This is definitely our first step in looking at the area of ultramobile PCs," said Mika Krammer, a Windows marketing director for Microsoft's mobile platforms.
Over the last year, several PC makers have been readying minitablets under the Origami code name. These minitablets are capable of running Windows XP along with a "Windows Touch Pack" that allows the devices to be more easily controlled using fingertip input. Microsoft expects that "gadget geeks" will make up most of the early buyers of the devices, which weigh roughly two pounds, pack a 7-inch screen and cost around $800.
"To really hit the mass market...in the hundreds of thousands and the millions of customers, we have to improve," Krammer said. The devices that begin shipping in April are likely to be more of a niche product, he said.
That's a far cry from the "dream" machines some envisioned when Gates first described his ultramobile concept last April.
In some ways, Microsoft has been the victim of its own success and some wild speculation. Rumors circulated that the company might have a portable Xbox or iPod killer in the works. Although Microsoft had hoped a teaser site would generate interest ahead of the launch, it had no idea it would create the buzz it did.
"We had anticipated some interest in what we were doing, but this has received a lot more interest than we expected," Krammer said.
In search of a market
The initial devices run the Tablet PC edition of Windows XP, along with the "Touch Pack," which includes new software for playing back media, as well as a "program launcher" that makes it easier to find and run programs stored on the device. New settings so make scroll bars and icons bigger and more easily navigated by a fingertip. Text can also be input using two thumbs via an on-screen keyboard. The software includes the popular puzzle game, Sudoku.
During a joint presentation with Intel at the CeBit trade show in Germany, Microsoft will show its software running on a Samsung device. Other Intel-based products are expected from Taiwan's Asus and China's Founder, while some companies, including Tablet Kiosk and PaceBlade Japan, are using processors from Via Technologies.
NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker was skeptical of how much appeal the first round of devices will have. "It's a product in search of a market," he said. It's too expensive for the things it does, Baker said, and is "too under-featured to do some of the other things it needs to do."
One opportunity exists, Baker said, if hardware makers can bring down the price tag by convincing cellular carriers to subsidize the product for buyers that sign up for new wireless service.
The Origami specification doesn't require any kind of wireless connectivity, but many of the devices will have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or both. There is also the possibility of a cellular data modem, which would provide an option for the devices to be sold--and partly underwritten--by wireless carriers. Of course, such wireless technology also adds to the cost of making the devices.
Intel, too, sees a bigger market if the industry can produce smaller devices with better battery life and a lower price tag. It showed its concept devices on Tuesday at its annual Intel Developer Forum.
The first generation devices are "going to be great for early adopters," Intel Marketing Director Brad Graff said. But for the masses, "These are bigger than what we want."
As for the next generation, Microsoft is already working on how to equip future devices with Windows Vista, the operating system update coming later this year. Vista has built-in support for touch screens and power-management features that could be useful Origami devices. Krammer said Microsoft hopes to have ultramobile PCs running Vista available as soon as the new Windows version ships.
See more CNET content tagged:
minitablet PC, Stephen Baker, Origami PC, ultramobile PC, reality
75 comments
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The devices also seem to be Bluetooth compliant, so BT keyboards are an option, not to mention USB.
If these devices perform reasonably well, I want one badly. Much easier to carry around than a laptop.
records this could be a huge area of growth. I use a tablet for
computer charting and something like this might be useful, but the
current software I use works better with more pixels and a large
screen. I'm not sure how I'd like squinting at 1080 x 768 pixels on
a 7 inch screen
parked my Newtons a long time ago. I won't even bother buying
one of these.
This will go the same route as BOB.
These devices are not any better, lighter, don't have a longer battery life and lack the keyboard to use make it a convertible.
I also have not seen a docking station.
Sorry Microsoft, a day late and a dollar short.
Here's my review in a word:
Weaksauce.
Back to work you slackers!
I think they should cut their losses with this tablet stuff and spend some money debugging the mess they've already created.
anyone I know has a PDA. They're just too small, and notebooks
make better companions when you're studying.
As for papers, students are more likely to spend 500 on a Dell
desktop than a first generation tech toy.
The only portable device you'll really see on campus is a MP3
player. Even laptops are confined mostly to the desk/bed.
Especially since a lot of universities have limited WiFi coverage
areas that don't include classrooms or lecture halls.
After all, isn't just a $500 Mead notebook if you can't surf teh
interwebs while in class?
Too bad MS missed this boat, again...
Will wait for Apple's iPuter. They'll get it right the first time.
Point it at a storefront, it retrieves the latest coupon. Sit on a bench and watch the latest news/sports. Call your daughter in college and see her/she sees you. Take a picture with flash.
It'll fly! Just show the soccer moms and boomers!
Of course, the product is nothing great. But, hey, at least you got the hype part right!
"It's a product in search of a market," he said. It's too expensive for the things it does, Baker said, and is "too under-featured to do some of the other things it needs to do."
If it has a touch screen, then make the device as big as the screen, why do I want all this extra real estate on the sides of the screen. The pictures of people holding it look like they are about to play a giant gameboy. No thanks.
It can't really be that expensive to make a portable PC with a touchscreen. lower the price!
I like the idea of running windows xp(vista really) on a small device that i can play music/watch video/check email/do work with/whatever a pc does. If I could actually run any program that works on windows on it I'd love it. Itd be great for car rides/planes/subway or for lunch time, down time etc. I think it could have alot of uses. I find my PDA to be too one dimensional. I have an ultraportable laptop, and it's fine, but something even smaller would be great.
Someone other then MS make this please.
As for the size, I like it. The screen is easily readable, unlike my PDA half the time.
And why the 'someone other then MS make this please'? MS makes the software, which appears quite usable and friendly. The hardware makers need to get the price of the components down, as well as the battery life up (a lot).
Given that seniors will comprise a increasingly large proportion of the population in years to come, this may well be a viable demographic for the UMPC.
I think I'll run off and trademark GranTop and GrampsPC, just in case.
It would also provide me Internet access in hotspots, and the potential for GPS is intriguing.
I had been looking at a Tablet PC, but this would honestly be easier to carry around and be generally more useful.
ps. remember what the initial thought about the smartphone?
This could be the form factor of the future. Battery life may prevent this version from revolutionizing the world but then again maybe not. Look at the PSP people drop $300+ and then purchase UMD movies for that thing and all it does is play games and movies. Some people are still dropping $400+ on PDAs that are really only good at calendar/contact management. Others are dropping $1000+ on mobile navigation systems for their cars and they only do GPS (have to buy an add-on GPS for Origami but still cheaper). I just spent $300 on an iPod and all it does is music and teeny-tiny video& I guess my point is that this device COULD replace all of those easily. (OK maybe not my iPod - for now).
Regarding pracitality - many sales people run their entire business from their car and this thing could be the default solution for entering data. In fact, sales people always take notes while on sales calls but would never whip out a laptop that would be tacky. Next time you have a sales person in your office imagine them pulling out a laptop, then contrast that image to them pulling out a little digital notepad and jotting notes. The difference may seem small but its not.
Im sure no one here pays attention to the Mac rumor sites, but theres a very real possibility that MS just beat Mac to the punch with Origami as far as form-factor goes. I think that the success of the iPod combined with the fact that OS X is arguably a better OS may have finally opened Microsofts eyes a bit. Maybe they finally see that in the long-term they need to innovate or die. I dont see them dying anytime soon. Bottom line: This is a cool product that could potentially revolutionize computing but its success hinges on Microsofts ability to market it.
For those of you who hate either MS or Apple or both please disregard this post none of my arguments make any sense if you refuse to acknowledge the fact that the world is becoming platform-agnostic.
but this UMPC is taking such baby steps - a crippled way to run the
same old OS intended for a desktop - that the future is as far off as
ever.
Nice to dream though, and it's good you have more vision than
most people.
Being a previous owner of a Newton I saw the benefits of such a device and can see the future of a Net & GPS connected, computer-like, music/video, organiser, phone companion.
To day that Microsof tis innovating would be a strecth - Newton was an innovation, this is an attempt to do it better. As to Microsoft's ability to a make a consumer oriented device which actualy works and is reliable is very doubtful - Apple is more likely to come out with this than MS, who doesn't understand the consumer (or seem to care about them) , and Apple has shown with the iPod that it can take an existing idea (the music player) and turn it into a mainstream hit. With their Disney /Pixar connections they are better positioned to make it happen for video as well, and the iPod phone thing is really just a matter of time and logistics (commercial realities).
I'm excited about the prospect of a small device like the iPod providing me with the platform to add-on what I need (GPS/Net/software/viodeo/phone etc.) - however I think there are quite a few users who would avoid it if it were Tablet PC (MS) based due to the insecurities, unreliability (not to mention a lack of sytle). I mean really - who wants to carry around a device that contains everything important to you that constantly gets compromised by viruses etc, and requires a expensive software upgrade every year for no good feature-related benefit?
But whoever takes this market is going to have to work well with other partners to achieve it (Motorola/Nokis/Sony etc) and I can't see MS making much ground in the phone business sincet they are scared of MS and have made their own softare standard. I think it's Apple's market to lose at this stage.
right! Bill Gates really learned a lot from Steve Jobs. For the first
time MS has an innovative product and behaves like Apple. Can I
use Newton OS or Mac OS X on it? Okay, then can I run Bayanihan
Linux in it? Can I? Can I? Please?